THIS BOOK has grown out of a number of concerns: that philosophy as we
know it today in the West is largely the product of the work of misogynist
men of the past, men who were either unresponsive to the needs and interests
of women, or whose ideas were downright antithetical to those needs and
interests; that feminist philosophy, which is responsive to the needs and in-
terests of women, has been largely ignored by this same philosophical tradi-
tion; that the same kind of feminist critical and reconstructive work that has
been largely ignored by philosophy in recent times has been transformative
of other fields (like history and theology and biology and psychology and
English literature); that these other fields attract large—and, indeed, ever
growing—numbers of women to them; and that philosophy, by contrast,
has yet to attract significant numbers of women to it

Our aim, of course, is to change all this. To that end we offer a clear
understanding, free of jargon or specialized presuppositions, of what femi-
nist philosophy is about, why it is important, and what it offers to philoso-
phy. More specifically, we offer a comprehensive feminist critique of most of
the major areas of philosophy, written by distinguished contributors to these
areas, together with a sketch of some of the new directions in which work is
proceeding in these areas, and also some of the new directions in which
philosophical work can and ought to proceed. We hope thereby to promote
informed dialogue between so-called feminist philosophers and mainstream
philosophers, and thereby bring about much-needed change in philosophy.

Many people have added immeasurably to this project, whether with sug-
gestions, advice, or encouragement. Foremost among them are Sandra
Bartky, Paddy Blanchette, Phil Quinn, and especially Jim Sterba, to whom
the book is dedicated. Ann Wald, Helen Hsu, and Karen Verde of Princeton
University Press showed immense patience and fortitude through an
avalanche of problems and delays. Finally, my daughter, Sonya, contributed
the love and support needed to see the project through to its completion.

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